​I flew into Bangkok in mid-January, planning to take care of some dental work, buy some tools and be on my way to Sangklaburi in a week or ten days. Well, things took longer than I expected – the dental work was difficult, they didn’t have the new microscope necessary to safely do the root canal and I could only see the dentist on Sunday afternoons! It was great to get back to Sangkla and the house I share with Naam, – all my tools, books and clothes were still there, if a little rusty, musty and foosty after a 4-month rainy season, where everything starts moldering down and returning to its constituent elements. My friends were all still here and my favorite restaurants were still open – who could ask for anything more? In fact though, Sangkla has changed quite a bit in the last year. It is now becoming a resort town for week-enders from Bangkok and has even had a write-up in the Lonely Planet, surely the kiss of death for a remote, lake-side village, tucked away in the hills leading to Burma.

No, I'm not trying to weld the wood to the drum!

Citar demonstrates the 'Acme 38' to a happy customer

​I flew into Bangkok in mid-January, planning to take care of some dental work, buy some tools and be on my way to Sangklaburi in a week or ten days. Well, things took longer than I expected – the dental work was difficult, they didn’t have the new microscope necessary to safely do the root canal and I could only see the dentist on Sunday afternoons! It was great to get back to Sangkla and the house I share with Naam, – all my tools, books and clothes were still there, if a little rusty, musty and foosty after a 4-month rainy season, where everything starts moldering down and returning to its constituent elements. My friends were all still here and my favorite restaurants were still open – who could ask for anything more? In fact though, Sangkla has changed quite a bit in the last year. It is now becoming a resort town for week-enders from Bangkok and has even had a write-up in the Lonely Planet, surely the kiss of death for a remote, lake-side village, tucked away in the hills leading to Burma.

The 'Acme 64' goes through it's paces

​I hauled the welder and other tools from Bangkok to Sangkla by bus, a feat in itself! But imagine my chagrin and mounting frustration when I plugged in the welder and found it didn’t work. I asked NawPawLulu’s son-in-law, Eff, to help me out. He is a skilled welder and generally, a very handy guy, so I knew he would find the problem. Well, it turned out that a key wire had been left disconnected, inside the welder. I know nothing about welding, (other than it’s potentially dangerous), and I have thus been studying instructional videos on YouTube. The emphasis is on safety and proper attire. So, when I go to weld, I wear a long-sleeved jacket, a leather apron, the best shoes available, dark goggles, welding gloves etc, as per the instructions. So now, Eff goes to test the unit and weld a rocket elbow I had already prepared – he’s wearing shorts, flip-flops and a muscle shirt! He did accept my offer of dark goggles, though. Of course, he did a great job and didn’t burn himself. However, after a second day spent with Eff, I noticed that the top of one of his middle fingers was missing.........I think I'll stick with the sweaty protective clothing. My first welding attempts were very poor and very ugly. Now I’m getting the feel for it, although it may be some time till we open the Acme School of Welding (Asia).

A stove and training manual delivered to NawPawLulu's Safehouse

​When I was searching for appropriate cooking pots, I went to Little India, which is a small enclave of people from the sub-continent, relocated inside Chinatown, Bangkok. I asked a young man to help and discovered he was from Nepal, of all places. Everyone he asked about my pots spoke Nepalese. It was quite dis-orienting. Then I met Citar, an employee of Children of the Forest. She is Nepalese too. Apparently, many Nepalese soldiers, (Gurkhas), were brought to this area to fight for the British against the Japanese during World War Two. I knew about the Nepal-Burma connection before, but it was a new twist to meet people who had settled in Thailand. South East Asia is a very ethnically mixed region indeed. I am looking forward to my visit to Laos in March and April, where there are many, many different ethnic groups.

The pot skirt can improve efficiency with other stoves, like this charcoal burner

​Well, my period in Sangklaburi is now finished and I’m off to Laos tomorrow night. Although things took longer than I expected, I feel I have achieved quite a lot. In the month that I actually spent in the workshop I build 6 stoves; an Acme 11, two Acme 38s, two Acme 64s and one big Mama Acme 200. (The numbers come from the capacity in liters of the barrel that houses the stove). I purchased and distributed about a dozen pots, complete with custom pot skirts. I trained two people in the basics of rocket stove theory and stove building. Lastly, I printed and distributed five training manuals on building rocket stoves. The stoves worked excellently and were received enthusiastically by their recipients. Now I’m looking forward to getting feedback about performance and ease of use, so I can make improvements in the future. The workshop is all packed away now, but it can be set up again easily and Acme Stove Works (Asia) can go back into production next year. An exciting final note: there is every chance that I will spend the month of May in Burma, meeting with groups who want to learn more about renewable energy. My friend, Jim Connor, has just returned from Burma where he found a nascent green movement that is thirsting for the gospel of photovoltaics and improved cook stoves. Their long wait is almost over.

These stoves are so easy to operate, you can take a cat-nap while cooking!